Search results matching tags 'fiction', 'tv shows', and 'reviews'http://evpl.org/community/search/SearchResults.aspx?a=1&o=DateDescending&tag=fiction,tv+shows,reviews&orTags=0Search results matching tags 'fiction', 'tv shows', and 'reviews'en-USCommunityServer 2008 SP1 (Build: 30619.63)&quot;Chuck&quot; is about a nerd that becomes a spy...essentially my life storyhttp://evpl.org/community/blogs/movies/archive/2008/12/15/quot-chuck-quot-is-about-a-nerd-that-becomes-a-spy-essentially-my-life-story.aspxMon, 15 Dec 2008 17:50:00 GMT9a7b961d-7882-4302-b701-732ca0e566f2:1005professor.knowsitall@evpl<p><img style="float:left;margin-right:5px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3247/3102801055_f58dc932d9_m.jpg" alt="Chuck: The Complete First Season DVD box art" width="179" height="240" />In the television show <em>Chuck</em>, Charles&nbsp;&quot;Chuck&quot;&nbsp;Bartowski plays your typical 20-something&nbsp;computer-geek,&nbsp;stuck in a dead-end job&nbsp;at Buy More&#39;s Nerd Herd (a less-than-subtle parody of Best Buy&#39;s Geek Squad).&nbsp; He lives an uneventful life with his sister Ellie, until one day when he receives an email from his long-lost friend Bryce.&nbsp; Turns out Bryce is a rogue CIA agent, and his email contains an entire government database of top secret info, which embeds itself into Chuck&#39;s brain upon viewing.</p>
<p><img style="float:right;margin-left:5px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3266/3103647472_37b5dea08d_m.jpg" alt="Adam Baldwin as Major John Casey" width="176" height="240" />Both the NSA and CIA want the intelligence returned to them and dispatch agents of their own&nbsp;- Major John Casey and Sarah Walker - to &quot;retrieve&quot; that data.&nbsp; When the original database is destroyed, Chuck has the only copy of that data, so he is forced to become a spy.&nbsp; Chuck&#39;s decision to keep his new-found occupation a secret from his family and friends, and to live his life as normally as possible, forces Casey and Walker to establish an uneasy alliance and secret identities (Walker poses as Chuck&#39;s girlfriend and takes a cover job at the local restaurant next to the Buy More while Casey gets a job at the Buy More), with the shared goal of protecting Chuck at all costs.</p>
<p>Seeing specific people/things causes&nbsp;Chuck to &quot;flash&quot;, subliminally retrieving data about the person/object from the government database in his mind.&nbsp; Chuck uses this ability to help John &amp; Sarah thwart evildoers and save the entire world from impending doom.</p>
<p><img style="float:left;margin-right:5px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3163/3103631050_c482e4728e_m.jpg" alt="Having a boatload of government secrets in your brain apparently DOES have its perks!" width="160" height="240" />Sarah is an incredibly attractive female spy, and as they continue their &quot;fake&quot; relationship&nbsp;Chuck&#39;s feelings for her become real.&nbsp; There is lots of romantic tension, often mocked by smart-aleck comments by John (portrayed by Adam Baldwin, of <em>Full Metal Jacket</em> &amp; <em>Firefly</em>/<em>Serentity</em> fame).</p>
<p>This show is brilliant, tied with <em>The Office</em> as my favorite current TV show.&nbsp; The cast is excellent, with real chemistry.&nbsp; The plots, while far-fetched, are extremely well-thought out, always resulting in hilarity and the unexpected.&nbsp; And the emotion evoked by the tension between Chuck &amp; Sarah (not helped by Ellie&#39;s constant &quot;I&#39;m so happy you <em>finally</em> found a girlfriend&quot; remarks), his belief that Sarah is way out of his nerd-league,&nbsp;the experiences with his ex-girlfriend (who re-appears in season 2), and his quest for more (a normal life and better job, for starters) creates endearing, genuine characters.</p>
<p>Season 1 was released on DVD &amp; Blu-ray a couple months ago, and season 2 (which is even better than season 1)&nbsp;is currently airing on Monday nights at 7pm on NBC.&nbsp; It&#39;s&nbsp;a show you really need to watch in order, so <a title="EVPL catalog" href="http://evans.evpl.org/search/t?SEARCH=chuck%20vid" target="_blank">check out the season 1 DVDs</a>, catch up on the previous season 2 episodes at <a href="http://www.nbc.com/Chuck/video/categories/season-2/678203/" target="_blank">NBC.com</a>, and watch the latest episode every Monday night!</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0px;"><strong>More Information</strong></p>
<ul style="margin-top:3px;">
<li><a href="http://evans.evpl.org/search/t?SEARCH=chuck%20vid" target="_blank">EVPL Catalog</a>: Check on the availability of <em>Chuck:&nbsp;The Complete First Season&nbsp;</em>on DVD at EVPL libraries.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.nbc.com/Chuck/" target="_blank">NBC.com</a>: Official website of <em>Chuck</em>.&nbsp; Find out more about the show, and <a href="http://www.nbc.com/Chuck/video/categories/season-2/678203/" target="_blank">watch full episodes</a> from season 2!</li>
<li>Amazon: Buy <em>Chuck:&nbsp;The Complete First Season&nbsp;</em>on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Chuck-Complete-Season-Zachary-Levi/dp/B000VWC9YW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=dvd&amp;qid=1229121174&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank">DVD</a> or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Chuck-Complete-First-Season-Blu-ray/dp/B0019NJW0G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;s=dvd&amp;qid=1229121174&amp;sr=1-2" target="_blank">Blu-ray</a> using these links, and the <a href="http://www.evpl.org/support/plf/" target="_blank">Public Library Friends</a> will receive a portion of your purchase!</li>
</ul>Doomsday, wrathful robots, other cheerfulness in &quot;Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles&quot;http://evpl.org/community/blogs/movies/archive/2008/12/05/doomsday-wrathful-robots-abundant-cheerfulness-in-quot-terminator-the-sarah-connor-chronicles-quot.aspxFri, 05 Dec 2008 15:38:00 GMT9a7b961d-7882-4302-b701-732ca0e566f2:955professor.knowsitall@evpl<p><img style="float:left;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3071/3084112987_44d6a717d5_m.jpg" alt="Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" width="219" height="240" />Being a self-proclaimed sci-fi geek, I love the Terminator movies.&nbsp; With three theatrical movies, and a fourth coming in 2009 (<em>Terminator Salvation</em>, starring Christian Bale!), Fox decided to capitalize on the series&#39; success with a spin-off television series.&nbsp; Season 1 of <em><a title="EVPL Catalog link" href="http://evans.evpl.org/search/t?SEARCH=terminator%20the%20sarah%20connor%20chronicles%20vid" target="_blank">Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles</a></em> began airing in January of 2008, and was recently released on DVD &amp; Blu-ray.</p>
<p>Explaining the TV show requires a bit of backstory from the movies, so here goes...</p>
<p><em><img style="float:right;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3153/3084950810_1f68b6d6db_m.jpg" alt="The Terminator" width="165" height="240" /><a title="EVPL catalog link" href="http://evans.evpl.org/search~S0/?searchtype=t&amp;searcharg=terminator+vid&amp;sortdropdown=-&amp;SORT=D&amp;extended=0&amp;searchlimits=&amp;searchorigarg=tterminator+the+sarah+connor+chronicles+vid" target="_blank">The Terminator</a></em> (1984)&nbsp;-&nbsp;In 1997,&nbsp;a computer system called Skynet becomes&nbsp;self-aware, unleashes a nuclear apocalypse on humanity, and&nbsp;builds an&nbsp;army of robots to destroy the few surviving humans that have formed a resistance.&nbsp;&nbsp;The leader of this resistance is John Connor, and&nbsp;under his command they are able to keep humanity alive.</p>
<p>In 2029, Skynet decides to send an indestructible&nbsp;Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger)&nbsp;back in time, to the year 1984, to kill John&#39;s mother, Sarah.&nbsp; If they kill Sarah, John will never be born, thus never organizing the resistance.&nbsp; Upon learning of Skynet&#39;s plan, the resistance sends one of their own to the year 1984, to protect Sarah from the Terminator.&nbsp; Fortunately, Sarah stays alive and the Terminator is destroyed.</p>
<p><em><img style="float:left;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3204/3084950798_6e7c69d534_m.jpg" alt="Terminator 2: Judgment Day" width="164" height="240" /><a title="EVPL catalog link" href="http://evans.evpl.org/search/t?SEARCH=terminator%202%20vid" target="_blank">Terminator 2: Judgment Day</a></em> (1991)&nbsp;- It&#39;s now 1993.&nbsp; Sarah Connor is in a mental institution for &quot;delusions&quot;.&nbsp; John Connor is a rebellious youth, living with foster parents.&nbsp; Skynet decides to send a more advanced Terminator to kill John.&nbsp; Future-John (in 2029) has reprogrammed a T-100 (Arnold) and sent him to 1993 to protect young-John.&nbsp; They bust Sarah out of the institution and destroy Cyberdyne, a company creating robotic endoskeletons (used in the future for the robot armies).&nbsp; This successfully delays the&nbsp;nuclear apocalypse.</p>
<p><em><img style="float:right;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3150/3084113003_7472973aca_m.jpg" alt="Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" width="162" height="240" /><a title="EVPL catalog link" href="http://evans.evpl.org/search~S0/?searchtype=t&amp;searcharg=terminator+3+vid&amp;sortdropdown=-&amp;SORT=D&amp;extended=0&amp;searchlimits=&amp;searchorigarg=tterminator+2+vid" target="_blank">Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines</a></em> (2003)&nbsp;- Forget about this one.&nbsp; Has no correlation with this TV show.</p>
<p><em><a title="EVPL catalog link" href="http://evans.evpl.org/search/t?SEARCH=terminator%20the%20sarah%20connor%20chronicles%20vid" target="_blank">Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles</a></em> takes place in 1997.&nbsp; Sarah &amp; John have been on the run for four years, pursued by the FBI for charges of terrorism.&nbsp; While at school one day, John discovers that his substitute teacher is a Terminator sent back in time to kill him.&nbsp; And guess what?</p>
<p>The resistance has sent a female Terminator named Cameron, played by Summer Glau (best-known for her role in <em>Firefly</em> &amp; <em>Serenity</em>),&nbsp;to protect him.&nbsp; Cameron transports Sarah &amp; John to the year 2007, as that is now the year that Skynet takes over.&nbsp; Agent Ellison of the FBI picks up the case, after it remained stagnant for the previous 10 years.</p>
<p><img style="float:left;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3068/3085001346_04597b3dcc_m.jpg" alt="Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" width="180" height="240" />Sarah, John, &amp; Cameron are on a mission to discover what Skynet is and to destroy it.&nbsp; Turns out that an advanced chess computer, that has garnered military interest, is the prime suspect.&nbsp; As Agent Ellison investigates Sarah&#39;s record, including visiting her former psychiatrist&nbsp;from the mental institution, he slowly begins to realize that she wasn&#39;t lying.&nbsp; The final episode features an epic battle, to Johnny Cash&#39;s &quot;When the Man Comes Around&quot; (one of his last songs, containing many references to the Book of Revelations), which literally gave me goosebumps.</p>
<p>While a bit cheesy at times, as most TV shows are, I found the acting and plot to be top-notch.&nbsp; It was also fascinating to see concepts, never fully explained in the movies, fleshed out.&nbsp; Fans of the Terminator films, good sci-fi, and thought-provoking storylines should definitely check it out!</p>
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<p style="margin-bottom:0px;"><strong>More Information</strong></p>
<ul style="margin-top:3px;">
<li><a href="http://evans.evpl.org/search/t?SEARCH=terminator%20the%20sarah%20connor%20chronicles%20vid" target="_blank">EVPL Catalog</a>: Check availability of <em>Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles</em> at EVPL libraries.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw_0_14?url=search-alias%3Ddvd&amp;field-keywords=terminator+the+sarah+connor+chronicles&amp;sprefix=terminator+the" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a>: Buy <em>Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles</em> on DVD or Blu-ray using this link, and the Public Library Friends will receive a portion of your purchase.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0851851/" target="_blank">Internet Movie Database</a>: Find out more about the show at IMDB.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.fox.com/terminator/" target="_blank">Fox.com</a>: View the official website of the TV show.</li>
</ul>
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